Fire door



oct. 30, 1951` A. o. NORMAN 2,573,160

FIRE DOOR Filed May 5, 1947 l 2 SHEETS--SHEET ll v ff T rJ/{lq ff l [l 5 j! Z5-wf yf gg j ZZ fz zy Q ff/ if" -A1/9 iff o J. 7 if 'I I It' f7 J7 V Im: ,f5 f 45 v J7 Aging Y V g a e 37" 7 jg ff/ z? fz I I fz? I INVENToR,

C@ I Y i @WW Oct. 30, 1951` A, Q NORMAN 2,573,160

FIRE DOOR Filed May 5, 1947 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 I; INVENTOR.

Patented Oct. 30, 1951 UNITED vSTATES PATENT OFFICE.

FIRE DOOR AugustOlaf "Norman, West Nyack, N. Y.v ApplicationMay 5-,.1947,.Serial No. 745,989.V 2 Claims. (Cl. 18947) This invention relates to an automatic door and more particularly to slidable doors adapted for automatic closure in the event of lire or other emergency.

Prior to this invention most slidable re doorsv were automatically operated by the melting of a fusible element due to the heat of the lire. This device was limited to res onlyand could not be operated for example where a smoldering, lire emitted obnoxious fumes Qr smoke which do not furnish suiiicient heat to melt the fusible element. Thus, the door would remain. enen whileV the fumes and smoke spread to- Qther areas of the building.

In addition, when said fusible element was melted accidently byI a Worlsunansr blow torch which may heat metal near said` door and thus. conduct sufficient. heat; to, the fusible.A element, said door would remain inoperative, until anew fusible linkv had replaced the. melted one.. Any delay in obtaining the. substitute fusible linkmay leave said building. unprotected by said ireproof` dQOr.

It is therefore the main object. of this invention to provide an electronically controlled slidingdoor which may be controlled automatically and' manually by remote control.

Another object. of this invention is-toV provide an electronically controlled sliding door which may be reset for future operation immediatel-y-l after said door has beenoperated` tothe closedposition by accidental use of the activating element- This can be done without the replacement of any operating` part ofrsaid door.

Still: a further object of this invention is to provide. a slidable lire door which has a cl'osa-ble opening which may be used for inserting a fire hosev through sa-id door intothe room containing the fire.

Other objects and advantages; will appear from the` following description considered`- in connection with the accompanying drawings; in which? Figure 1' is an elevational sectional view ofthe lre door in the open position showing it held within a recess provided for itin the Wall;

Figure 2` is` a View of the, re door' of' Fig, 1;, showing the fire door in the closedpositionwhen, danger occurs;

Figur-e 3 is' a, longitudinal sectional, viewv or there door shown., in Figure 1 taken alongthe lines Figure 45. is* a crosssectiorlal'Y View of the. deer handles4 ofn the lire door shown in Eig. Zutaken alongline; 4 4; and

Figure 5 is a side. elevational view of the closed door.

Referring now to theA drawings and in particular to the automatic re door shown in Figures 1 and 2, and also, in Figure 3, this re door Attached to the roof I0 and iloor II of said channel 'I are guide rails I2 and I34 respectively. A. pair of aligned wheels I4 are attached by brackets I5 to the inside central portion of top and bottom of the door frame I so that said wheels I4` are aligned.= with said guide rails I2 and I3 and are adapted to roll along said guide rails I2 when said door frame I is pushed intoV or out, of. said wall 8.. Attached to the rear Wall I6. of said channel I are a. pair of solenoids I'I and I8 which arez arranged one.- above the other.

.I of said sliding door frame I.

Said solenoids II- and. I8 comprise supporting brackets I 9 and. 2.8i, plungers. 2I having right t angle catch pins22y at oneend, fixed washers 23.

around' the centers of said plungers 2|, and springs 24. surrounding said solenoids I 'I and I-.8 and compressed between. said washers` 23 and electronically controlled solenoid latches 2.5.Y which are adapted to. catch pins 26. on the lower parts of said plungers. 2Iv when.. said plungers 2| are driven down by the openingY door.

A pair of catch. hooks, 21 and 28v are attached by means of bolts'29 to the outer rear panel 370. Said catch hooks 2T and, 28 have an extended inclined. straight rod. 34| and ahooked rod 32 withsaid inclined straight. rod 3l positioned, slightly above said hooked.` rod 32. Said catch hooks 2.1' and..28 are so` positioned that when said fire door is slid back into the. channel 1., of the wallY 8,. said inclined straightv rod'v 3| strikes against thecatch pins. 22. located at` the end ofV` said plungers. 2l and drives` said4 plungers, 2ll downward. until. the. catch pins 25. engage, the. solenoid latches 25,. thus holding the upper pins 22. Within the curveof the hookedrodsA 32 of, said. catch hooks 2,'Iand 28, respectively.

At; substantially the: center' oi?v said` rear. wal-l.v

IB, of said channel l. ot the. wall 8i, supporting. bracket. 3a havingj an;

is. attachedaaperture 341sA therein adapted to receive the closed end of a cylinder 35 which is supported in a centrally horizontal position along the walls of the channel 1 by means of brackets 36 which are attached to said cylinder 35.

A piston 31 having a piston valve 38 at one end 39 is adapted to slide within said cylinder 35. The other end 40 of said piston 31 is attached to a ilange 4| which is in turn affixed to the central part of the front 5 of said door frame Paired rods 42 and 43, respectively, are arranged in the form of a double toggle joint by pivotally joining the ends 44 of said rods 42 to a pivot 45 while the other ends 46 of said rods 42 are pivotally attached to pins 46 set in the door iiange 4| and pins 41 set in the cylinder bracket 36. Rods 43 are similarly attached in opposing piston on the under side of the cylinder 35. A pair of springs 4S are attached between said pins 45 by means of hooked ends 49.

An opening 5|)l is placed in said door for insertion of a fire hose through said door into the burning room. A pair of covers 5| operated by a handle 52 and a lever rod 53 are adapted to open and close said opening 5i! in the door. Said handles 52 are attached pivotally within recesses provided for them on the outside of said door frame so that they wont interfere with the movement of the door within the channel 1 of the wall 8. Said covers 52 are arranged against the inside walls 2 and 3 of the door frame l.

Referring now to Fig. 4, a pair of handles 54 and 55 are pivotally attached by means of recessed brackets 56 and 51, respectively, to the front part of the walls 2 and 3 of said door frame I. A spring 58 is attached between the projecting pivotal ends 5S of the handles 54 and 55 so that said handles 54 and 55 project outwardly for easy grasping when said door is closed. However, when said door is slid into the channel 1 of the wall 8, said handles 54 and 55 strike against the side walls 8 and are compressed inwardly against the recessed brackets 5G and 51, respectively, as shown by the dotted lines in Figure 4A Suitable size holes 6@ are placed in the inside of the cylinder 35 of the speed control equipment so that when said piston 31 is forced out of the cylinder by means of the spring loaded toggle joint pressure, said piston valve 38 will be held back by the decreased air pressure within said cylinder 35. The amount of vacuum appearing within said cylinder is regulated by these air holes 55 and will therefore regulate the speed of the closing mechanism in proportion to the amount of air admitted by said holes 6D.

The operation of the device is as follows:

An electronically controlled re alarm system, such as one activated by thermostatic control or a compound bar contact arrangements whereby eX- cessive heat may close a contact which in turn would close any suitable electronic relay or activating device, releases the solenoid catch 25 shown in Figures 1 and 2. These electronically controlled re devices may be placed in any suitable location within the room to be protected. For example, a thermostatic control or fire sensitive compound bar contact may be arranged in strategic positions near said i'lre door or they may be placed in any position near the ceiling in the staggered position of a sprinkler system. In addition, said electronically controlled solenoid catch may be released by remote control from any iire station within said building when either fumes or smoke are detected in the building. In such case, any person in charge of the lire station could operate any or all lire doors by pressing appropriate buttons or turning appropriate switches which would thus release the solenoid catch 25 and permit said fire doors to be closed by the spring activated double toggle joints as hereinbefore described. However, should the heat in said protected room rise above the danger limit which may be due to any type of re, said sensitive compound bars nearest to said nre would close and thus operate the solenoid catch to the open position, which would in turn release the re door and thus seal oi the opening to the 'burning room. Should any of the thermostatic controls or compound bar contacts be accidentally activated which would result in the closing of the re door, said iire door may be easily pulled again to the open position and retained in such open position without replacing any of the fire controls as would be the case when fusible links or elements are used. In the operation of this embodiment, release of the solenoid catch 25 permits the solenoid spring 24 to push the solenoid plunger in an upward direction. The pin 22 at the end of said solenoid plunger 2| will be raised above the hooked portion 32 of the hook element 28, thus releasing said hooked element 2B from said solenoid pin 22. The springs 48 will be held between the toggle joints 48, and will be compressed and thus force the slidable door across the door opening until the front portion 5 of said slidable door strikes against the frame of said door opening. In addition, an opening 50 is provided in said door frame I for insertion of a iire hose to flood down the burning room. The cover 5| may be removed from said opening 50 for re hose purposes as mentioned above, by

rotating the handle 52 which is pivotally mountedl so that it can be raised out of the recessed opening 54 into which it is placed when not in use. By rotating said handle 52, lever 53 is propelled in such a fashion that the cover 5| is moved clear away from the opening 50. This exposure of the opening 5|) may be done either from the side of the closed door, as shown by the sectional view of the re, door in Figure 3. The spring loadedhandles 54 are pivotally mounted so that when said sliding door is in the closed position, the spring 58 compresses the pivoted ends 59 and the handles are tilted out of the recessed openings in the door. These handles 54 are used for opening the door and sliding it back to the open position.

It will be noted that when said slidable door is pulled into the channel 1 of the wall 8, said'.

spring loaded handles 54 Will abut against the frame of the channel 1 and thus be compressed into the recessed plate provided for them. These handles 54 may be operated from either side of the door.

The evident advantage of this type of electronically controlled re door is that the door may be operated to protect parts of a building from obnoxious fumes, smoke and other fire hazards.

The closing speed of said iire door can be easily y regulated by increasing or decreasing the vacuum eect on the piston 31 and piston valve 38 within said cylinder 35 by a predetermined size of aseries of holes which permit the outside air to ow into and out of said cylinder 35.

As will be seen from the above description, th f invention discloses an electronically controlled sliding re door which may be controlled auto-,1 `matically and manually by remote control.

addition, this electronically controlled sliding door is novel in that it may be reset for future operation after said door has been accidentally operated to the closed position without replacing any of the activating elements. The unusual feature of a closable opening which may be used for inserting fire hose therethrough makes this fire door an additional safeguard for iire fighting purposes.

While in disclosing the principles of my invention and its preferred embodiment, I have described various detailed structure and relationship, it will be understood that such embodiment and details are given by Way of example only and not as limiting the scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A fire door assembly comprising a frame, a hollow fire door slidably mounted in the frame, a rigid horizontal tubular brace member having one end fixedly secured to a side of the door frame and extending within the interior of the door, a piston and piston rod connected thereto within the tubular brace member, means securing one end of the piston rod to the door, a first set of lever arms each pivotally connected at one end to the tubular brace member, a second set of lever arms each pivotally connected at one end to the interior of the door, means pivotally connecting each of the other ends Aof the second set of lever arms to a respectiveone of the other ends of said rst set of lever arms, spring means connecting the mutually pivoted ends of said lever arms for biasing the latter and the door toward a closed position, a latch element carried by the door, and means coacting with said latch element to hold the door in open position against the action of said spring means, said coacting means being operable from a point exterior of the door frame, whereby said tubular brace member serves both as a means for mounting said lever arms Within the interior of the door and also as an element cooperating with said piston and piston rod to form a, door check means.

2. A fire door assembly comprising a frame, a hollow nre door slidably mounted in the frame, e rigid horizontal tubular brass member having one end xedly secured to a side of the door frame and extending within the interior of the door, a piston and piston rod connected thereto within the tubular brace member, means securing one end of the piston rod to the door, lever means Within the interior of the door and pivotally connected at one end to said tubular brace member and at the other end to the door, said lever means being actionable to react against said tubular brace member and move said door toward a closed position, spring means for actuating said lever means so as to bias said lever means and said door toward a closed position, a latch element carried by the door, and means coacting with said latch element to hold the door in 'open position against the action of said spring means, said coacting means being operable y from a point exterior of the door frame, whereby said tubular brace member serves both as a means for mounting said lever means within the interior of the door and also as an element cooperating with said piston and piston rod to form a door check means.

AUGUST OLAF1 NORMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 350,312 Markland Oct. 5, 1886 376,121 Tucker Jan. 10, 1888 535,821 Doyen et al. l Mar. 19, 1895 566,159 Forbes et al Aug. 18, 1896 675,903 Peregrine June 11, 1901 695,035 Cook Mar. 11, 1902 695,987 Winslow Mar. 25, 1902 709,607 Podlesak Sept. 23, 1902 1,057,608 Wurmb et al. Apr. 1, 1913 1,746,850 Boedtcher Feb. 11, 1930 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 

